1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drive and bearing arrangement for the rotor systems of a disintegrator or the like which rotor systems rotate in opposite directions and are arranged next to each other.
1. Description of the Prior Art
Disintegrators are used for comminuting different types of materials.
Most disintegrators have rotor systems with blade rings which rotate in opposite directions within a housing. The material to be comminuted is fed into the housing in the vicinity of the inner portions of the rotor systems and, due to the centrifugal force, is moved outwardly where it is comminuted. The comminuted material is subsequently removed from the outer housing portion.
Disintegrators of this type in principal operate in the same manner as the arrangement for the comminution of coal disclosed in French Pat. No. 677,966. The rotor systems are fastened to oppositely located ends of shaft stubs which are mounted in the housing as well as outside of the housing. The shape of the rotor blades depends upon the type of material to be comminuted and on the rate of rotation to be employed in the disintegrator.
In the operation of conventional disintegrators, vibrations are generated which are virtually impossible to control. These vibrations not only reduce the service life of the disintegrators, but they also are the cause for the emission of intensive noise. Even if the rotor systems and all rotating components are well balanced, vibrations are caused by the material to be comminuted which sticks in more or less substantial amounts to the blades. While, on the one hand, this effect is desirable because the wear of the blades is reduced, it leads, on the other hand, sooner or later to imbalances which are responsible for the vibrations and which were virtually impossible to compensate in the past.
Since the rotor systems, particularly in disintegrators with high rates of rotation, additionally act as gyros, the usually non-uniform coatings of the blades with the comminuted material and the load on the blades resulting from feeding in the material to be comminuted frequently results in so-called d'Alembert's forces which act on the rotating systems and predominantly affect the bearings. If these bearings are structural components of the disintegrator housing, the latter acts as a sounding board when noises are emitted.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a drive and bearing arrangement for the rotor systems of disintegrators in which the vibrations are reduced to a minimum and the generation of noise is almost completely prevented.